Many audit recommendations getting ignored

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers and bureaucrats have ignored many of the recommendations from state auditors to make government more accountable to voters and taxpayers.

During roughly the past five years, the state auditor's office has made more than 50 specific recommendations for changes to state laws and polices on topics as varied as public education, law enforcement and tax policy.

Only about one-third of those recommendations have been implemented.

An additional one-third have clearly not been implemented.

The remaining recommendations are more murky to classify. For example, several agencies have followed recommendations to ask lawmakers for changes, but lawmakers have not passed those bills. Other recommendations have been partially implemented or remain under consideration, and a few were made too recently to have realistically resulted in action.

The bottom line is that the auditor's office is batting barely .350 -- a good average in major league baseball but not so hot of a success rate by most other standards.

No real power

That highlights what has long been a source of frustration for Missouri auditors. They have the power of suggestion, but nothing more.

"Because we don't have any enforcement power, if they don't want to, they certainly don't have to do anything," State Auditor Susan Montee said.

Montee, who took office in January, said she was curious to know if the recommendations of previous audits were being followed. So she asked her staff to compile a status report focused specifically on suggestions concerning changes or clarifications in state laws.

That report released last week covers audits between January 2003 and October 2007. For most of that time, Democrat Claire McCaskill was the auditor. She now is a U.S. senator.

Montee's report does not break down what proportion of the recommendations were implemented. Those general percentages were calculated by The Associated Press.

The progress report notes that legislators have followed up on audits by making changes to the insurance department and by allowing the gradual demise of several tax credits with questionable benefits.

Unfulfilled suggestions

But there are many examples of unfulfilled recommendations, particularly relating to education.

In 2004, auditors suggested a law giving the State Board of Education rule-making authority over charter school programs.

In 2005, auditors recommended a law requiring school district bond issues to be competitively bid.

In 2006, auditors recommended a law requiring competitive bids for the purchase of goods and services by school districts.

That same year, auditors recommended legislation requiring parents to notify public schools when they choose to home-school their children, so they are not counted as dropouts.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said no legislation passed on any of those topics, according to the status report.

Several audit recommendations about police officers also went unheeded.

In a 2005 report, the auditor noted that state law does not allow law enforcement officers to be disciplined for misconduct unless it occurs while the officer is on duty or commits a criminal act. The audit suggested a law allowing disciplinary action for off-duty misconduct.

But that recommendation was not pursued. The Department of Public Safety told auditors that an attempt to regulate off-duty behavior by police would face serious opposition in the legislature.

Auditors also recommended a law allowing the Peace Officer Standards and Training Program, or POST, to reveal previous employment information about law officers to their new prospective employers. Another recommendation would have required law officers to pay state taxes before receiving a license -- a mandate already in place for some other licensed professionals.

The Department of Public Safety said no legislation has been pursued on either of those. But they haven't been ruled out. A potential discussion of the recommendations by the POST Commission was delayed from October to next April, a department spokeswoman said.

No one group at fault

Lawmakers and auditors can both be blamed for the lack of follow through.

The auditor's office does not distribute copies of each audit to lawmakers. And lawmakers readily acknowledge they don't read every item that gets posted on the auditor's Internet site.

Montee said she is making an effort to talk to legislators about potential changes. But auditors have to be careful not to advocate for particular policies, she said, because they may end up auditing those very subjects.

Montee has distributed a copy of her status report to each legislator. She considers a second chance for action.